Pacquiao returns in powerful fashion

ESPN Stats & InformationManny Pacquiao landed 48 percent of his power shots against Brandon Rios, according to CompuBox.

Manny Pacquiao defeated Brandon Rios by unanimous decision (120-108, 119-110, 118-110) Saturday in Macau in his first fight since being knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez last December.

From the opening bell, Pacquiao used his power and quickness to outland Rios. Over the first six rounds, Pacquiao landed 117 power punches -- four more than Rios would land the entire fight.

Pacquiao was effective throwing punches to the head, landing 241 of 281 punches. According to ESPN Stats & Information video tracking, 146 of those punches landed on the right side of Rios' head, as seen in the graphic above.

Going into the fight, Pacquiao averaged a 47 percent connect percentage with his power punches, and that number was right on target Saturday, with PacMan landing 48 percent against Rios (223 of 468). While Pacquiao was able to work his power punches and land combinations on Rios, "Bam Bam" was unable to do the same. Pacquiao outlanded Rios with power punches in every round but the eighth, where the California native held a 14-9 advantage.

Rios was thoroughly neutralized by Pacquiao throughout the fight, leading to the lopsided scores. Rios is most known for his high-punch output that was seen in his past two fights with Mike Alvarado.

In his first fight with Alvarado, Rios landed 161 punches (including 144 power shots) over seven rounds to win by knockout. In their March rematch, Rios landed 241 punches (182 power shots) over 12 rounds in a unanimous-decision loss.

Yet, against Pacquiao he was unable to get off punches. Rios landed 29 percent of his punches (he averaged 34 percent over his past six fights) and offered far less in terms of punch output. Rios threw 42 punches per round, far below his 74-punch output per round over his past six fights. In terms of power punches, Rios threw only 22 per round, landing double digits in just five of 12 rounds. He came into Saturday's fight averaging 54 power punches per round.

Pacquiao, on the other hand, had no problem getting off shots. After averaging 69 punches per round over his past nine fights and landing 24, Pacquiao threw 66 punches per round Saturday against Rios, landing 23. Pacquiao's control of the ring and his precision inflicted damage to the head of Rios, as seen in the graphic above, helping the Filipino gain points on the scorecard en route to the unanimous decision. Although PacMan didn't score a knockout for the seventh consecutive fight, he showed the power and speed that made him one of the pound-by-pound fighters of the 21st century.